On the fly

When you do things on the fly, you do it with very little thought as to the process, and you do it while its happening.
It’s like fast food for birds – they have to eat on the fly.

YouTube / iTunes / Spotify / Radio Public / Pocket Casts / Google Podcasts / Breaker / Overcast

Listen to ArtisanEnglish.jp posts & lesson intros here.



Idiom: On the fly

Some people like to meticulously plan out their vacations, while others prefer to adapt on the fly.

Yes, some are still planning while on the airplane flying to their destination, but this is different from what it means.


When you do things on the fly, you do them with little thought as to the process and do them while they are happening.


If you are positive, you could see it as living in the moment.

If you tend towards the negative, you could call it poor management.

Sure, if you want a little excitement in your life and spice things up, you can go on vacation without any plans and play it by ear when you get there.

Once, during final exams at UBC, I went to Maui for a week.

I had no plan.

I bought a cheap ticket and flew to Maui.

At the hostel, I met a few kiteboarders and ended up almost breaking my neck.

It was a great time, though.

That’s OK for a semi-mature twenty-six-year-old university student like I was.

There is a time and a place for everything, and when you’re 44, you must plan for the future.

I’m talking about retirement here.

Retirement planning is not something you do on the fly.

You need to have a plan, and you need to stick to it.

If you don’t, instead of relaxing on a beach somewhere, you’ll be collecting old cans to try to make rent.

When it comes to most things in life, you need to have a plan.

Living in Japan, I’m highly aware of the possibility of a major earthquake occurring at any time.

We could have one before I finish this post.

Doing things on the fly is exciting and fun, but having a good plan is what gives you the security to do something on the fly now and then.


Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).  

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 79.  

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.



Posted

in

by